Volume VII - In an Eastern Rose Garden

LOVE, HARMONY, AND BEAUTY

How the words 'love', 'harmony', and 'beauty' delight
the heart of everyone who hears them! One may wonder what
it can be in these words that is able to exert such a natural
power upon the human soul.

The answer is that if there is anything in life which
appeals to the human soul, it is love and beauty. If one
asks, 'And what besides those?' then the answer is, 'There
is nothing else.' Why is this? Because they are the very
nature of life. Love is the nature of life, beauty is the
outcome of life, harmony is the means by which life accomplishes
its purpose, and the lack of it results in destruction.

When we reflect upon this whole creation we cannot but
see that its purpose is to express an ideal of love, harmony
and beauty. Love could not have manifested itself if there
were nothing to love, eyes could not have seen if there
were nothing to see. What could love have done if there
were no beauty? Love would have been silent. Love can only
be said to exist after it has passed from silence into expression.

Now comes the question: What has made beauty? The answer
is that it is love that has made beauty. When a Sufi calls
you 'Beloved ones of God' he has this idea in his mind.
Whatever God has created, He has created out of His love.
He has created to be loved by Him, and therefore whatever
He has created and all His creatures are His beloved ones.

We human beings have our prejudices; we like one, dislike
another; we consider one worthy of high esteem, and another
only worthy of low esteem, but to God they are all alike;
they are His creation. It is just as it would be for a poet
to have the little scrap of paper on which his song is written
thrown away, or lost and not esteemed. How could he sing
without his voice? So it is with the Creator; He cannot
be pleased when His little scraps of paper are not appreciated.

God is love, and He has created man out of His love.
How then can He be pleased if one has hatred or prejudice
against a fellow man? Because one forgets that however unworthy
he may seem to be, he is nevertheless the beloved one of
God? He has created him in order to love him. Therefore
God, the Father and Mother of all beings, is equally pleased
with all His creatures.

But is not one thing more beautiful than another, one
person more than another, in either external or internal
being? What is the reason of this?

The reason is found when we consider the work of an artist,
of a poet, of a composer of music, of a writer. We can see
that one composition is much more beautiful than another.
One picture may perhaps be the best the artist has painted
in all his life. The poet may wonder, 'Have I written this
verse? Where can it have come from? It is so superior to
all the others; it is marvelous how these words came to
me.'

Just as we see this in the individual, so also do we
see it in the work of the Creator. At the same time, love
is the only power that has created, or that can create.
In this way God becomes the lover and the manifestation
or object of love at the same time. In Sanskrit this is
called by mystics Shiva and Shakti, or
Purusha and Prakriti, or Ishwara and
Maya, these three pairs of words. The one part is love,
and the other part is beauty. Love has created beauty in
order that it may be able to love. God is love; that is
why He is called the Creator. The lover alone has the power
to create, and that which he creates is for the purpose
of receiving his love.

The Prophet has said, 'God is beautiful, and He loves
beauty.' Now the word 'beautiful' does not refer to the
form of God. God is formless. He has no personality until
He manifests Himself to Himself. Therefore it is not His
personality, which is beautiful, for God is beyond that
which in the ordinary sense of the word is called personality.

What then is the source of God's beauty? God is beautiful
because He has created beauty. If there were no beauty in
God, there could have been none in His manifestation. If
there were no beauty in the thought of the poet, he could
not write beautiful verse. If there were no beauty in the
thought of the artist, he could never have painted the picture.
One cannot see the beauty in the heart of the painter except
in the beauty of the picture he has made. It is not only
the picture which is beautiful, the heart of the painter
was beautiful first. Consequently we become able to see
the beauty not only in manifestation, but also before it
was manifested; and before it was manifested it existed
in love. In other words, we can see that the beauty was
hidden in love; beauty is hidden in love, and the beauty
that love has before it to love is its own beauty. Therefore,
to whatever extent beauty is beautiful, so is love beautiful;
even more so, for the Creator is more beautiful than the
thing He has created.

All things that we make are the work of our hands. We
are their creator; and we are greater than our hands. So
it is with love. Love is greater than beauty, because love
is the creator of the beauty that love loves in its life.

No doubt by loving, love becomes limited, limited as
beauty; but then that is the purpose of love. If there were
no beauty, His love could not have realized the latent joy
of its own nature. The joy of its existence would die out.

As soon as we can think in this way, we come to see that
the lover is vaster, incomparably vaster than the object
he loves. The real love, the real beauty, is in the lover.
The object that he loves is much smaller, although for the
moment the lover is not aware of the difference. The lover
thinks, 'You are the object before which I bow. You are
the object of which I think day and night, before which
I am helpless. You are the object that I admire, that I
adore.'' Yet he does not realize the vastness of his love,
and indeed, strictly speaking: love is vaster than the lover.

When people begin to learn the lesson of love they are
apt to be frightened at the pain and difficulties and troubles,
which they will have to face on behalf of love. When they
compare their condition with that of the beloved, they think
the beloved is much better off than they: 'The one who takes
my thought, who gives me pain, who wounds my heart, is much
happier. When I compare myself with the beloved I think
he is much the happier.' And they go on thinking, 'If I
were the beloved it would be much better.' Every soul experiences
that thought, but once he has risen above it, then he begins
to know love. The soul that has not escaped from this fails
to realize the fullness of love.

There is another side to love, and that is selfishness,
and the lover must escape from this. The true lover says,
'I will give everything, I will endure all things, all tortures,
all torments that may have to be faced in life. I will bow
in humility before whatever befalls me. I will give all
that I have. I will bear all things, believe all things,
hope for all things, and endure all things.' But the other
side of love says, 'Are you crazy? Have you lost your senses?
You are foolish. Why this complaining? See how happy the
beloved is? Be happy like him and be in his exalted position,
instead of in this humility and degradation. Enter into
this greatness and not into that destruction!' Then he proceeds
to reason, and at length he understands. The one thing leads
to destruction, the other promises safety. But in destruction
there is the hand of God, while in safety there is the hand
of Satan. All things that are selfish are taught by that
power and by that knowledge which is the enemy of mankind.
Satan is an enemy because he leads man away from the purpose
of his life. He seeks to make the lover change places with
the beloved and say, 'Your position is better than mine;
now I would like to be like you.' And perhaps he will wait
all his life to gain that coveted position, and it never
comes because the beloved would not surrender the wealth
when the chance was there.

The life of a person is quite changed after being melted
in the fire of love. The fire of love will exalt him so
that his power will even influence animals and birds; the
wise and foolish will be attracted to him alike. Once he
is purified, burned in the fire of love, he will become
the attraction of every soul, of every being, invisible
as well as visible. It is only the advice of Satan that
keeps him from that. The master is he who suffers. We often
reflect upon how Jesus Christ washed the feet of his disciples.
What beauty there is in that service, in that humility!
Should we find that beauty in a proud man? Could a proud
man win the hearts of the world for centuries and centuries?
The proud man is led by Satan, he becomes egoistic, selfish,
cold; everyone in his presence will freeze, for his presence
is like ice and cannot impart comfort.

But how forgiving is he who has been through all suffering!
Was there anything else in Christ's life but forgiveness
and tolerance? Always forgive, always tolerate, he said.
It was because the love in the heart of the Master was so
great that it appealed to everyone. Love was all the philosophy
that his fishermen could understand, and if love were placed
before philosophy and religion how devoted would the devotees
become. The animals and the birds would be attracted by
the power of man's heart aflame with love. As it is, man
only frightens love away at the least suspicion of its appearance,
and so love never wants to come nearer.

How often is the word 'love' used in everyday life for
what is nothing but an amusement, a pleasure, a pastime,
a degraded thing. Love is so much higher. It is not a thing
that you can give to a person, or of which a person may
say, 'I can develop it.' He cannot learn it, he cannot study
it in a book; there is only this one thing to be done: to
allow it to grow in the heart. A person cannot live without
his heart, and the heart cannot exist without love. However
loveless and cold a person seems to be, however wicked and
cruel, he nevertheless has love, though it is hidden. There
is a thick wall built round it. It has no means of coming
out; it is continually kept within this shell, and it is
uneasy and restless. That is why man becomes cold an unhappy,
always wanting he knows not what, because he does not understand
the only true inclination. The power of love has become
captive in a thick shell, a shell of coldness, the frozen
part of love, and this shell refuses outlet to the stream
of love, the divine power, which seeks to emerge through
the heart. When a man does not give this love an outlet
he becomes a burden to others. His presence becomes disagreeable
to his surroundings, his influence becomes a burden to himself.
For this reason some people even go mad. Not knowing what
they want in life, they always blame others for not having
loved them, and sympathized with them, or been kind to them.
They do not realize that the key lies in themselves. In
their heart lies the power to open and melt anyone's heart.
It is our own power that can bring another to our feet.

Whoever learns this truth ceases to blame anyone for
being cold to him, unkind to him, unsympathetic towards
him. He finds that the cause lies in himself. By seeking
the sympathy and good feeling of another person he covers
up his own heart and stops it from expressing itself. The
power of love is ever wishing to come out to impress itself
upon its surroundings, and yet it is as if the doors were
being ever closed to prevent God from coming out to fulfill
the purpose of His own creation.

How beautiful are the words of the Prophet: 'The shrine
of God is the heart of man.' How true that is! Is God to
be found in a mosque, or temple, or church, or in any place
where people sing hymns and offer their prayers? Can He
be found where there is no love? He is not to be found in
the houses that men have built for worship. These are only
schools for children, and their playgrounds. Children like
playing with toys, and yet they are preparing themselves
for something else. When man has come to know the real beauty
of God, he will find that it dwells only in one place: in
the heart of man. God is love, and He is found in the heart
of man.

He who understands this can worship God even in man.
For when he abides by this philosophy he will always be
aware that in every aspect and at every moment he may be
injuring or hurting the feelings of God, that he is in danger
of breaking the shrine of God in breaking the heart of his
fellow man.

It might be thought that the philosophers and mystics
and sages, who are so near and close to God, might take
too much liberty with the world. But they are, on the contrary,
the most tender and sensitive towards mankind. They are
ready to share anyone's trouble, to share anyone's sorrow,
to share everyone's depression and despair. They are ready
to console any and every person with their words, to help
with their service, and to give their sympathy always to
those who need it. They shrink at no sacrifice of time,
money, pleasure, or comfort. As Christ teaches, 'Whosoever
shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain.'

What does all this teach us? It is all a lesson in sympathy
for one's fellow man, to teach us to share in his troubles,
in his despair. For whoever really experiences this joy
of life, finds that it becomes so great that it fills his
heart and his soul. It does not matter if he has fewer comforts
or an inferior position than many in this world, because
the light of his kindness, of his sympathy, of the love
that is growing, the virtue that is springing up in his
heart, all fill the soul with light. There is nothing now
that he lacks in life, for he has become the king of it.

Such a person becomes a healer, a real healer. He heals
a person with his glance, with a kind word, with his hand,
by his comfort, by his nature. What a healing that is! Unpretentious,
unassuming; the real healing is when a man is in sympathy
with another's trouble and gives him a helping hand. He
is the possessor of the true wine. He who can send from
his eye the glance that proves the sympathy and help he
is anxious to give, what a healing power he has! Is it not
like a young bird being taken in beneath the brooding wings?
There cannot be a more beautiful process of healing than
this among all the different methods by which people have
endeavored to heal.

Some may ask what, then, should be the object which one
should love in this life? Is there any particular object
that a man can be recommended to love? Is it best to love
one's parent or friends? To love one friend only, or to
love just one beloved of the opposite sex? Should one love
something in the abstract, some spirit, some ideal, some
name, or something, which is beyond man's nature? Or should
one love something idealized as the God whom one worships?
There are many who say that there is no love which is useful
but the love of God. All other forms are worthless. Another
says that he or she can love no one who is of the opposite
sex, having once been disappointed in this way. Another
will say, 'I will love no human being; I can love my dog
or my cat better. They do not disappoint me, whereas I was
once disappointed in man.' Another says, 'I love my money,
because if I am in need that is the only friend that comes
to my rescue. The deposit I have in my bank does more for
me than anyone can do. Why than should I not love my money?'
And still another person says, 'If God is all, if He is
to have all love, then why not love the chair, or the table,
or a book, or the work that a person does a work of art,
a piece of music; is it not the same?' But all these questions
are voiced by hearts which have once been disappointed,
once broken. They broke and became closed, and once the
doors of the heart are closed there is no light to guide
its path. That is what is so beautiful in the little English
song, 'The light of a whole life dies when love is done.'
There is no light when love is done. When love is done,
the heart is closed.

So often one meets with people who complain that the
love on the part of the lover failed to satisfy and caused
their despair and distress. What does the Sufi, what does
the sage, learn from this? He learns that it is those who
love who gain. Those who have loved and not gone forward
are those who have lost. The reason why they have gone back
before reaching their destiny has been that they were dependent
upon the object of love which disappointed them. The Sufi
is aware of this great pit on the path. Whenever the lover,
who was attracted by beauty, falls from his love, it is
because he depended on the beauty. It was the beauty that
he loved, and he could only stand as long as that beauty
remained his ideal. The lover rises again when he consults
with himself and says, 'I will make such an ideal as will
allow my life to become self-sufficient. The ideal will
be my excuse, but in reality I will raise my love. Whenever
love was broken, it was only because the ideal did not prove
to be as the lover expected it to be. I will therefore avoid
blinding my eyes with the external life, but will build
the path on which to travel in my own heart. That ideal
will suffice and provide everything that the beloved may
lack.' This lover is the real lover, because love has a
beauty too, and he produces from his own love the beauty,
which perhaps the beloved lacks, and he no longer notices
the lack in his beloved. From this time on, the beloved
becomes his love because he has made a beloved in his thought,
in his imagination, and he can continually add to the beauty
of the manifestation.

In this manner the song of love and beauty has been sung
in all periods of history. Sadi of Persia, Dante of Italy,
and all the great ones who have loved and appealed to the
heart of man, all of them have left words which still pierce
through our hearts today because of the greatness of their
ideal. They have themselves created their ideal in their
own hearts. For all such there can no longer be any question
of the beloved proving unworthy of love. The lover has become
the creator of the love. Did not God create love? Have not
we inherited this beauty of God? Can we not create love
also? That which one can create can always be depended on.

There is another side to this question, and it is that
the ideal of love, which is created by man, is according
to his evolution. If he is material, he will appreciate
material beauty in a person or object. He cannot help this.
It is not his fault. It is right for him to admire that
which directly appeals to him. One person will prefer beauty
of mind, of virtue, of personality, of some good manner,
of some goodness, which appeals to him. He values a beautiful
personality, a sympathetic presence. Another person will
perhaps like a soul because he finds in it his ideal of
inspiration, intuition, peace of mind, and joy.

Therefore one cannot point to any particular object as
the only object worthy of love, because beauty is only according
to a person's evolution. He who is of lower evolution cannot
love a higher object. But a person of higher evolution can
love the lower as well as the higher. He who once loves
cannot hate. The one who hates is he who cannot appreciate.
Hatred is found in the lower grades of evolution, not in
the higher; and the higher the evolution develops, the less
the hatred and prejudice become. In the higher realm there
is no poison, for the object is higher, the standard is
higher, the sphere is greater. As high as one sets one's
ideal, so high does one reach, and it is by raising the
standard of beauty step by step that one rises up and up
into the highest heaven.

It is by walking along and keeping ever on the path of
love that even from the lowest depths the soul can reach
the highest heaven. Man can even raise his ideal to that
height in which he becomes able to love God the Formless,
God the Nameless, who is above all goodness and virtue;
not even He can be restricted to virtue, for He is beyond
goodness.

There are sages who are moved to tears just by saying
to themselves one word of essential truth, of abstract truth.
What could have this effect? Is there some pain concealed
in it? Is anything said to evoke sympathy? No, it is their
ideal that is so high that they see the ideal beauty in
the truth. The truth of being has become beautiful to them.
Their beloved has become God, and when a word of truth is
spoken in their hearing they are moved to tears. To these
sages everything is a real manifestation of the beauty of
God. If they hear music, in that music they feel God, in
that music they see God. If they are standing before a picture,
in the beauty of that picture they see their Beloved. If
they are standing in a crowd, with all manner of faces,
to them the whole picture is one harmony, one vision of
the sublime, and they can see the whole beauty there. Whether
it be desert, or sea, or sky, or land, whatever it is that
is before their eyes has a vision of beauty to offer to
them. And it is in this way that the whole of manifestation
has become for them an immanence of the beauty of God.